Distributed arbitration for the segmented-bus platform

The authors approached, in this study, the realization of a segmented-bus platform, where the higher level arbitration unit, dealing with requests for inter-segment communication is removed from the system. Another communication protocol, built as a token-passing scheme, provides an autonomous solution. The local segment-arbiters analyze themselves the opportunity to send data on the bus, based on the information carried by the traveling package, at their borders. The solution reduces area-related figures, while still providing a faster operation than the usual, single-bus platforms.